Internet registration simplified

MELBOURNE IT has introduced changes to make it easier for small to medium-sized Australian businesses to register a .com.au domain name.

The company, which is Australia’s sole registry for the .com.au domain name, will accept an Australian Business Number as a criteria to secure a .com.au domain name.

Melbourne IT CEO Adrian Kloeden said surveys suggested SMEs didn’t see themselves as requiring a presence on the Internet.

“They believe their business starts and ends at the front door,” Mr Kloeden said.

“The importance of protecting your identity that may have been built up over years of hard work cannot be understated, regardless of whether the business intends to trade online.

“That is why we urge all SMEs and now ABN holders to register their trading names as domain names immediately.”

He said while the .com.au domain name space had more regulations governing who could register than the .com, .net and .org domain name space, speculators and cyber-squatters still operated and demanded payment for domain names of existing commercial entities in this space.

“Part of the reason cyber-squatting has become such a problem in the online environment is because enterprises and individuals have ignored industry warnings about securing domain names.

“Furthermore, they have probably held the mistaken view that they have to do something with their domain name and build a website or trade online at the time of registration – this is not the case,” he said.